


Light One Candle (Don't Let the Light Go Out)

by tbehartoo



Series: Kurtzberg Chronicles [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chloe's first Hanukkah, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Found Family, Holiday Traditions, family traditions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28147374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbehartoo/pseuds/tbehartoo
Summary: Nathaniel’s parents weren’t what anyone could consider devout in any religion, nor were they particularly fond of family gatherings. His grandmother absolutely loved her Jewish heritage and lived the tenants of her faith daily, but she was especially fond of those holidays that would bring her children and grandchildren together. As Nathaniel watches his new bride light the Chanukiah and shakily utter the prayers over the candles, he can’t help but feel the joy and wonder that sharing this part of his family traditions with her brings. Who knew that Chloe would be this invested in traditions that he’d almost lost? Truly she was a light in the darkness and Nathaniel was amazed that he was allowed to see it.
Relationships: Chloé Bourgeois/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Series: Kurtzberg Chronicles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2061975
Comments: 10
Kudos: 16
Collections: December 2020 - Advent Calendar





	Light One Candle (Don't Let the Light Go Out)

**Author's Note:**

> This was for Day Eighteen -Menorah- of the Miraculous Fanworks 2020 Advent Calendar  
> Definitions for some Hanukkah specific or Yiddish words found at the end of the story
> 
> The fabulous HopefulPhoenix , Cherrybomb_marichat, and AlderaanianPrincess were willing to beta for me. Gay_english_nerd also gave this a look over. Thank you all!

Nathaniel felt eyes boring into his soul. 

He quickly shifted his attention from the sketch he was doing to scan around the apartment that he and Chloe shared. There was the impeccably decorated Christmas tree that Chloe had hired Marinette to do on December 1st. The soft azure and amber lights were giving the room a warm glow that he’d tried to capture in his sketch as they added small haloes around Emma,  Pelée, and Maleek. He’d been trying to get that light effect down while the children colored pictures of dreidels at the kiddie table, when he became aware of the feeling of eyes on him. 

Marinette and Nino were stirring, flipping, and frying donuts in the kitchen supervised by Nathaniel’s cousin, Lucie. Marinette had come early in the day so that she and Chloe could make the jam for the donuts and the two had made a truly daunting amount of the sweet stuff. 

Nathaniel looked further around the room. 

Adrien and Alya were closely watching the kids at their coloring while each one rocked one of Lucie’s twins. Somehow in a quiet but heated discussion over merits of Hawkmoth versus Mothman while talking in whispers to not disturb the sleeping babies. 

Sabrina, Marc, and Alix would be bringing their partners and kids back to the apartment after they passed out the hygiene kits everyone had put together that morning for the clothing drive Ladybug and Chat Noir had spearheaded at the beginning of fall. 

The heroes and the rest of the backup squad were doing everything they could to keep the newest holder of the Butterfly Miraculous from having fodder for akumas during the lowest part of the year. The families at the crisis shelter in the next arrondissement were going to be so surprised at the warm gifts, but winter in Paris was no joke. 

Surprisingly, Emma and Maleek had taken very seriously their assigned task of adding the MiracuSquad Stickers to each of the plastic bags of the kits. Chloe had stepped in to put a stop to an argument between the two over how to put them on “right”, but had ended with throwing her hands in the air and conceding that there is absolutely no winning an argument with a couple of four-year-olds. Even now the memory made Nathaniel smile.

The apartment wasn’t as full as it was going to be, but already things were feeling a bit crowded in the best possible way. Laughter was coming from the kitchen and from the babysitters. The children chattered animatedly with one another. The faces of all the Miraculous holders were soft and open, even Adrien seemed to forget some of his hypervigilance tonight. Hanukkah music played in the background adding to the festive feel of the evening. What could be setting off Nathaniel’s danger instinct?

Chloe came back into the room from the hall closet with a new box of matches and a serious look on her face, but the murder eyes he felt weren’t coming from her, which was a refreshing turn of events. He turned to the only other occupant of the room.

“Bubbie?” he asked, not trying to hide the confusion in his voice. “What’s wrong?” A memory of her emergency heart surgery the month before suddenly flared. “Are you feeling okay?”

The older woman flapped a hand at him. “Stop worrying so much about this poor old woman and start paying more attention to your wife.”

“Chloe? But-- she’s fine?” he said as he watched the person in question cross the room to the beautiful silver Chanukiah that was stationed on a small table near the window. 

The Chanukiah had nine branches. There was one branch for each day’s candle plus an extra for the shamash, the helper candle, that would be used to light all the others. Their Chanukiah had been a gift to them from his grandma, Bubbie Esther, when Chloe had first come to her to ask how to celebrate the Festival of Lights. 

Chloe wanted Nathaniel to bring his traditions to their partnership, especially the ones that brought the family together, but he had been very unhelpful when she asked about this holiday. His parents hadn’t really been very fond of religion or family gatherings so he had only a few vague memories of celebrating Hanukkah from when he was quite young.

“She’s stressed over this evening,” his grandmother replied. “She needs some reassurance.” She swatted his shoulder gently. “Get over there and let her know we’re not going to throw her out of the family if something goes wrong.”

Nathaniel smiled even though he felt sheepish at not recognizing how stressed Chloe was about the evening. Obviously, his grandmother had spent enough time with her lately to recognize what it meant when the corners of Chloe’s mouth were set like they were now.

He watched his target follow his movements in the reflection of the window. He knew he wouldn’t startle her, as he came up from behind and caught her in a hug. 

“Hey, sweetie,” he murmured in her ear. “Relax. This doesn’t have to be perfect. We’re here because you brought us together, not because we expect you to break into a perfectly choreographed song and dance routine.”

“I’m pretty sure I’d like to see Chloe dancing a can-can,” Adrien called from across the room.

Nathaniel shot a brief warning look at the blond man. 

“Mind your own conversations, cat boy,” he replied. “If you’re not nice I’ll tell Santa that all you want for Christmas is Camembert.”

“Never mind,” Adrien replied with a grin. “No amount of high kicks is worth that.”

Chloe huffed at him but didn’t swat at him or try to break his hold. He’d count it as a win.

He tried again to comfort Chloe. 

“The only person here who will know if your pronunciation is off is going to be surrounded by half a dozen goyim who have no idea what they’re saying and relying on a cheat sheet for help. Bubbie’s just going to be so happy that there’s at least another person, besides her and Lucie, in this room that knows what’s supposed to be said, and we both know that person isn’t me.” He smiled as he kissed her gently behind her earlobe. “ _ You _ are the heart of our family, dearest,” he whispered as he gave her another gentle squeeze, “and you’re not getting out of it by somehow quote “ruining Hanukkah” end quote. It’ll take a lot more than that to get kicked out of the Kurtzberg clan.” 

Chloe scoffed as she whirled around to more effectively hide her face from those in the room.

“I want this to be perfect for you, Nath,” she said as she snuggled into his arms. “We both know that we have no idea how happy families work.”

Nathaniel brought a hand up to cradle Chloe’s head closer to his shoulder and absently rubbed his thumb along her cheek. Now was not the time to go into the conversation that often took them hours to talk through. He desperately looked around for inspiration and when he focused back on the Chanukiah he had an idea.

“Chloe, I know you’ve heard the story of why we celebrate Hanukkah from Bubbie, but how about you sum it up for me?” 

She looked up at him with brows clearly indicating her confusion. “Nath what does that-”

“Indulge me honey bee,” he said as he smiled at her.

She looked up into his waiting face before saying, “A small force of dedicated warriors-” She saw his gaze travel around the room to rest lightly on Adrien, Alya, Nino, and Marinette before looking back at Chloe, “- lead by a brilliant and creative commander-” his head nodded back toward the kitchen and she couldn’t help smirking back at him, “-were able to defeat an almost insurmountable force and free their people from tyranny.” 

He nodded at her summary, but his gaze traveled to the window with a frown, before his focus came back to their conversation. 

“By some  _ miracle _ ,” he put a slight emphasis on the word, “the oil for the temple was able to last beyond what it should have been able to. It burned for the eight days needed to properly prepare more oil instead of burning just one day the rebels expected.” He pressed a gentle kiss to her hair. “From that day onward, the celebration of the lights is to show that despite so many supposedly insurmountable obstacles, we’ve persisted. My heritage is one of fighting for peace and persisting through all kinds of troubles meant to destroy us.”

He took another moment to nuzzle her nose with his. 

“Chloe that’s now your heritage, too. We,” he waved a hand between the two of them, “will persist. We will fight for the peace of our people and for the safety of our family.”

She sighed in agreement and put an arm around his waist, pulling him closer.

“No two families are the same Chlo,” he whispered “but we’re willing to put in the work for our happily ever after. This evening is proof of that. Thank you for bringing back something I hadn’t even realized I was missing.”

Right as he was leaning in to give her a more thorough kiss, Alix slammed through the door making more than one person jump.

“Time to get this show on the road,” Chloe grumbled as she put on her game face.

“That’s my girl,” Nathaniel said as he grinned at her.

“You get back over to Bubbie,” Chloe demanded as she stepped away. “You’re supposed to make sure she’s resting. She only had that double bypass last month.”

Nathaniel swooped in for one last squeeze and a kiss on her head as he murmured, “Yes, my queen.” He darted away before she could swat him.

“Okay everyone, get comfortable,” Chloe commanded. She picked up the papers that had the prayer printed on it with the phonetic pronunciation underneath and passed them around. As she passed out the paper she reminded the gathering about the fire safety rules.

“Remember no one touches the candles except for who?” she demanded as she squinted at Adrien’s quickly reddening face.

“Just you or Nath, Chloe,” he replied, as the other adults chuckled at his sheepish expression.

She nodded then turned to the children at the kids’ table.

“And who touches, holds, or lights the matches?” she asked with far less venom toward the children.

“Only you, Auntie Chloe,” they chorused.

“And not Plagg,”  Pelée chimed in.

Everyone laughed even though Bubbie and Lucie looked confused though amused. Obviously, their imaginary playmate, Plagg, was a known trouble maker and was not to be trusted with the matches.

“That’s right. I’m glad you remembered to add that Pelée. We don’t want another  _ incident  _ do we?”

“No!” everyone agreed.

Chloe nodded as she watched Max and his group settle in around the others, and gingerly brought out a match. The scratch of the sulfur against the side of the box sounded loud in the silence of the room.

Nathaniel saw Chloe’s hand tremble slightly.

“You can do this, zeeskeit,” Bubbie said to the suddenly frozen young woman. “We’ve been practicing for months. Take a breath and watch the flame.”

Chloe obediently drew in a breath and watched that she wasn’t about to burn her fingers on the match or light something other than a wick on fire. She smiled back at Bubbie and began to lead the rest of the room in the words that were unfamiliar to all but three of them. 

As soon as she replaced the shamash the sound of the Maccabeats singing “I Have a Little Dreidel” filled the room.

Lucie had a bag of plastic dreidels and a large bowl of  Hanukkah gelt on the table before the first phrase had finished and was beckoning everyone over to learn how to play the game.

Nathaniel and Bubbie joined Chloe at the Chanukiah. 

“I did it!” she squealed.

Nathaniel was quick to wrap her in a hug and nuzzle her hair. 

“Yes, you did,” he held her close but pulled back so he could look into her eyes. “It was perfect.” He smirked before adding, “Just like you.”

Chloe blushed at the pure adoration of her husband and buried her face in the crook of his neck while saying, “You’ve got that right.”

Nathaniel’s chuckle burst out of him accompanied by his grandmother’s light laughter.

“Into the kitchen!” the older woman commanded. “We have guests to feed and you two have plenty of latkes to make.”

Chloe turned to Nathaniel. “You, Mister If-I-can’t-microwave-it-then-no-I-can’t-cook, can make latkes?” The confusion and accusations were clear in her voice.

Nathaniel had the decency to look away even as he blushed to the tips of his ears.

“I realized just how much time and effort you’d put into making this a special holiday, so I-” he looked over at his grandmother who was smirking at him, “-I had Lucie’s mom teach me when I went over to sketch the twins for Julien’s birthday present.”

“And now we’ll find out who had the better teacher,” Bubbie Esther crowed even as she chivvied them toward the kitchen.

All three of them broke out in a laugh.

“I’m pretty sure I had the best teacher,” Chloe said as she put an arm around the other woman’s shoulders with a squeeze. “Let’s go show him who’s the best.”

“Oh, we will, zeeskeit. We will.”

Nathaniel grinned fondly at the backs of the women in front of him. The next song on the playlist made him laugh out loud as the words “Light one candle...” began to play. The image of one light kindling and strengthening the other brought to his mind as he watched his grandmother give Chloe a hug. Truly this was a time to celebrate the lights in the world. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Definitions from Dictionary.com :

**Menorah** \- a candelabrum having seven branches (as used in the Biblical tabernacle or the Temple in Jerusalem), or any number of branches (as used in modern synagogues).

**Temple** \- any of the three successive houses of worship in Jerusalem in use by the Jews in Biblical times, the first built by Solomon, the second by Zerubbabel, and the third by Herod.

**Chanukiah** \-  a candelabrum having nine branches that is lit during the festival of Hanukkah

**Shamash** \-  From the Hebrew word shamash meaning "to serve," shammes (or shames) means "attendant." The shammes is the ninth candle on the Hanukkah menorah, used to light the candles representing each night.

**Goyim** \-  a term used by a Jew to refer to someone who is not Jewish.

**Dreidel** \-  a four-sided top bearing the Hebrew letters nun, gimel, he, and shin, one on each side, used chiefly in a children's game traditionally played on the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

**Hanukkah Gelt** \-  A piece of Hanukkah gelt is a chocolate coin usually wrapped in gold foil, designed for children to gamble with during a game of dreidel. 

**Latkes** \-  A latke is a potato pancake made from shredded potato and fried in oil, often served with applesauce or sour cream.

  
  


**Zeeskeit** (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4136942/jewish/13-Super-Polite-Yiddish-Words-and-Terms-of-Endearment.htm)-  Literally “sweetness,”  _ zeeskeit  _ is a term of endearment you can use exactly as you’d use “sweetie” or “honey” in English.

**Author's Note:**

> Much thanks to Katiechat and Gay_english_nerd for answering Hanukkah questions for me. Y’all, they tried! Any mistakes are mine. Please be nice to me, but also let me know if something needs to be changed.


End file.
